DIY Reversible Easter Dress for Your Little Girl

While I love Easter, my family and I usually don’t do much to celebrate except go to church, and maybe go to an egg hunt for my daughter. I’ve been wanting to make a dress for her for a while, and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to try my hand at making a simple dress she could wear to church Easter morning that would be comfortable enough to wear if we decided to go to a hunt.

My dress is based on the “pillowcase dresses” that everyone is making these days. However, I wanted my dress to be reversible. It took a little figuring out to make that happen. I wound up adapting my technique from this tutorial. That link may help if anything I say below is unclear.

I headed to Walmart to pick some springy, Easter-appropriate fabrics and got to work!

What you’ll need:

1-2 yards each of two complementary fabrics (my choices were 100% cotton and just $2/yard!)

Ribbon

Thread

Scissors

I didn’t use a pattern to create this. Rather, I used a pajama dress that fits my daughter really well to figure out the size. Honestly, it’s tough to mess this up. Cut a front and a back for your dress out of each fabric. Cut a “J” shape for the arm holes. The shape should look something like this when folded in half.

Put the two front pieces together, right sides facing. This mean you’ll have the front of one fabric facing the front of the other fabric. Sew around the top from one arm hole to the other, being sure to leave an opening near the top on each side. The opening should be slightly wider than the width of your ribbon, since the ribbon will slip through it to make the dress straps. Be sure to backstitch where you stop and start around the opening. NOTE: Do not sew down the sides from the underarm to the bottom of the dress. Repeat with the two back pieces.

Turn your pieces right side out and press them. Be sure to fold the hem of the opening for the ribbon and press it while folded. You can use iron-on hem tape or fusible web to close the hems, but you’ll have to be very careful not to close the holes. I didn’t close my hems here, and they’re holding up great, since the openings are relatively small.

Open the front half of the dress so that the sewn part is in the middle, right sides facing up, with the unsewn sides flat on the cutting board.

Open the back the same way, then lay it on top of the front, right sides together. Be sure to match up the seam at the underarms, as shown above. The matching fabric from the front and back should be on top of each other.

Sew the sides of the dress from the bottom of one fabric to the bottom of the other. Press the seams open.

Flip the dress over so it is right side out. Fold up and press your hems on both fabrics. Try to make the hems as even as possible so both dresses are the same length. Topstitch them closed.

You’re done!

Seriously, the hard part is over. There are two options for the straps: Two pieces of ribbon tied at both shoulders (shown above), or one longer piece of ribbon threaded through both the front and back and tied at one side (shown below).

Whichever style you choose, simply attach a safety pin to the end of your ribbon. Use the safety pin to thread the ribbon through the holes you left in the front and back of the dress. Tie them, and admire your handiwork! And remember, she can wear the dress on either side, and you can change the ribbon as you see fit.

The best part? This dress cost me about $8 and an hour to make — even with a learning curve!

Disclosure: I am a member of the Walmart Moms program. I was provided with compensation for my time and effort in sharing an Easter DIY project with you. Participation is voluntary and as usual, all opinions are my own.